10 Marvel Superheroes With Tortured Pasts

He may seem like he's all quick quips and thwips, but your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has a past that's as broody and depressing as anything Nick Cave could ever sing about.

An orphan whose parents are killed in a plane crash, Peter is raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben and they do a bang up job of it.

He is a straight-A student with a brilliant mind for science and he's kind to old ladies and stray dogs (assumedly), but when he is bitten by a radioactive spider his life changes dramatically. With his newfound strength, he takes to pro-wrestling to make a few bucks and it's after one of his matches that he fails to stop a robbery, saying that it's none of his business, only to return home to find that the guy he let go has killed Uncle Ben.

And if this isn't enough to have on his conscious, he is partially responsible for the death of his girlfriend Gwen Stacy. After she is thrown from a bridge by the Green goblin, Peter fires his web shooters in an attempt to save her. Unluckily for him, the force of the drop and the sudden stop breaks her neck.

So, yeah, he's got to carry that around with him as well.